


Snapshots (Timestamps, Outtakes and Scenes from "Sock Monkey")

by Cattraine



Series: Sock Monkey [4]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Healing, Honeymoon, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Same-Sex Marriage, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-14
Updated: 2011-08-14
Packaged: 2017-10-22 15:14:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/239430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cattraine/pseuds/Cattraine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The third set of timestamps in the Sock Monkey alternate universe. These focus a bit more on Steve’s POV and again, are in no particular order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snapshots (Timestamps, Outtakes and Scenes from "Sock Monkey")

****

Cat

Catherine Rollins opened the door to her hotel room with a sigh of relief. She tossed her small suitcase on the luxurious bed and resisted the urge to flop down on it herself. The beautiful day outside was beckoning. This was the first liberty she’d had in Hawaii in over two years and she intended to take full advantage of it. Her last tour had been deep in the Persian Gulf and Catherine was heartily tired of long weeks spent onboard ship tracing and decoding various Arabic and Farsi transmissions.

She quickly removed her uniform, draped it over a chair and changed into a bikini, then pulled a pretty floral sarong over it before sliding her feet into a comfortable pair of sandals. As she transferred her wallet, keys and essentials into a tiny strappy purse, she paused with her cell phone in hand, thumb hovering over her contact list. This was one of those times that she missed Steve fiercely, with a dull ache that never failed to take her by surprise. She’d had other lovers since him, but somehow they just didn’t measure up.

She’d never realized how deeply she had fallen for the man until he had abruptly broken up with her that last time she had blown into town on liberty. She had shown up at his house dressed in her best little black dress complete with new lingerie and heels with a bottle of good red in hand for what she had happily assumed would be another lusty night spent rolling around in his bed. What she had found --and interrupted-- was Steve spending a movie night with his partner, Danny Williams.

She still remembered the shy, almost frightened look Danny had given her before he had bolted from the room. The tense, withdrawn man that night had been nothing like the neat, confident professional she had met previously—gone was the crisp white shirt and tie and sleek hair—instead he had been dressed in a crumpled tee shirt and sweat pants, with uncut blond hair falling over his eyes. He had nodded politely when introduced, but remained quiet as a mouse for the rest of the evening after Steve had coaxed him back downstairs.

She knew both she and Danny had been relieved when Steve drove him back to the hospital. What she had not expected was to be dumped for the man when Steve got back to the house. She winced mentally at the memory. She had been more than a bit tipsy and horny and had undressed and waited for Steve in his bed. She had thought at first that Steve was joking when he asked her to leave, and had laughed incredulously at his halting explanation. She had sobered up quickly when she realized he was dead serious and she had really angered him because he thought she was laughing at Danny.

Before she knew it and could sober up and really process, she had found herself dressed and tucked into a cab and sent back to her hotel. She hadn’t seen hide nor hair from McGarrett since, other then a rumor that he had been offered a promotion which he had declined and that he was no longer in the Naval Reserves.

Although she had known logically that all they shared was a casual relationship, she hadn’t been able to stop hoping it would eventually develop into something more and now with hindsight she realized that she had fooled herself into believing it eventually would. At odd quiet times on ship and when she was alone, she found herself daydreaming of a life spent married and living with Steve in a Hawaiian paradise in his comfortable beachside house and even having a couple of kids. Her mother and married sisters’ constant nagging reminders of her ticking biological clock had not helped the situation.

She frowned and shook her head. Dwelling on what could have been accomplished nothing. She had a good career, an active social life and was here on sunny Oahu for two weeks and she intended to enjoy herself, She had specifically chosen this ritzy North Beach hotel with the intention of lying in the sun and watching the waves and maybe letting one of the pretty boys who rode those waves pick her up later. She grinned evilly. She was going to make certain to send her mom and sisters in Iowa some postcards and photos of these perfect waves and hot surfer boys.

Two hours later, she was lying on a towel on the beach, slathered in sunblock, half asleep, and sipping a tall drink. She had instantly made friends with a couple of young professional women on vacation and they already had plans to hit a restaurant and a club later that night. Now she was content to sprawl back in the sun and listen to Kim and Julie laugh and joke as they rated the local eye candy.

“Hmm, what about him? He’s kind of short, but really hot.”

“Yeah, fun-sized, and look at those abs, plus he’s blond and surfs too. Not bad at all. Cat, what do you think?”

Catherine peered over the tops of her sunglasses at the guy and blinked, sat up and blinked again. She pulled her glasses off and squinted down the beach to be sure. The blond guy was carrying a surfboard out of the water, yellow and red board shorts sliding low on cut hips. She could see his tan line against golden skin from here. She watched as he planted his board beside a blanket and cooler, pushed his damp hair back, and turned to peer back into the water. Sure enough, a familiar tall, tattooed figure in black board shorts was wading out, a board of his own tucked under his arm.

“I think he’s probably taken,” she said softly.

She watched as Steve loped up the beach to where Danny waited, and they both turned to watch a beautiful wave roll in towards the beach. Danny was smiling up in Steve’s face as he gestured expansively towards the water and McGarrett was returning that smile, fond eyes locked on the smaller man’s face. As Catherine watched, Steve tucked a strand of wet hair behind Danny’s ear, hand cupping the nape of his neck as he bent and dropped a quick kiss on the blond’s lips. They both sat down on the blanket and Danny began to dig through the cooler while Steve picked up a tube of sunblock and began to methodically coat his partner’s back and shoulders with the protective lotion.

“Wow, Cat, you sure called that. Why are all the good ones either gay or married?” Kim lamented with a pout.

Julie chuckled. “Yeah, or both, Prince Charming has shacked up with Mr. Right these days.”

They laughed and turned their attentions to a handsome, well muscled Samoan youth strolling down the beach, admiring his tattooed arms and calves, before excusing themselves and heading inside the hotel for a bathroom break.

Catherine looked back down the beach and realized that Steve was striding up towards the outdoor bar behind her, a sunny smile on his face as he returned the greetings of a couple of natives. He looked good, tanned and happy. She sat silently, waiting to see if he would notice and acknowledge her. His eyes slid over her and he blinked, his smile freezing for a second before he changed course, now headed for her blanket. She stood quickly and stepped into his brief hug of greeting and awkwardly returned it. He still smelled of salt and ocean and the familiar scent caused her to blink back tears.

“Hey, Cat, it’s been a while.”

“Yes. I haven’t been posted close for quite a while.”

They stared at each other, wearing uncomfortable smiles, both ill at ease. Steve glanced over his shoulder and she followed his gaze to where Danny was sitting, busily slathering his torso and arms with lotion.

“He looks really good now,” she offers softly.

Steve smiled a wide, proud smile that made her ache inside.

“He is. He’s doing a lot better. It won’t be long until he’s back full time on the squad.”

He ran a nervous hand over the nape of his neck and through his wet hair and she caught a glint of gold as he looked down at her through his lashes almost shyly.

“We got married a few months ago.”

“Congratulations!”

She forced herself to hug him again and hid her face against his neck so he couldn’t see her expression as she bit her lip hard. She pulled back and smiled wide, hoping it didn’t look as forced as it felt.

“Well, it was good to see you again! I’d chat longer but I’m kind of with some people…”

He picked up the out gratefully, and stepped back.

“Maybe we’ll run into each other again before you ship out. It was good to see you!”

He smiled as politely as the stranger he was becoming—the stranger that he _was_ , she told herself fiercely-- and waved as he headed back up towards the bar.

Catherine sat back down and took a hearty gulp of her drink. She blinked back tears feeling really pissed at herself. She realized then that she’d never known the important things about Steve. That despite the mornings she’d awoke in his bed, the fun romps they’d shared and the evenings they’d spent making love on the beach that he had never ever given her his heart or even his confidence, and she tried really hard not to resent that. To be fair he had always been perfectly clear that there would never be more than a casual relationship between them. She was the one who kept spinning daydreams of more until she’d believed them possible, but dammit, the three plus years they’d been together should have counted for something more than play dates!

She stared down the beach and realized that she was staring at Danny, trying hard to see what Steve saw, what was so special that it made committed bachelor Lieutenant Commander Stephen ‘Smooth Dog’ McGarrett risk his heart. It wasn’t the fact that Steve was bisexual, a lot of Navy men were, but the fact that after spending years in a sexual relationship with her that he’d fallen so hard and fast for this particular man that he’d married him even after Danny became ill.

All she could see was an attractive blond man smiling happily up at her former lover— _his_ husband now-- as Steve knelt and handed him a cold glass of iced tea.

Blinking hard, she stood and snatched her towel up and folded it with sharp snaps of her wrists. She was going out shopping for a new dress and shoes (and dragging Kim and Julie with her) for the club troll tonight and she was going to allow some good looking stud to pick her up and take her home where she would proceed to fuck his brains out, but first she was going back to her room to wash her face and finally, _finally_ erase Steve McGarrett’s number from her phone.

She sniffed and tossed her head, confidence restored with her plans, but still that didn’t stop her from glancing wistfully over her shoulder for one last glimpse of a dark head bent protectively close over a fair one as she left.

Steve was always going to be the one that got away.

 ****

Hospital

The first thing he sees when he opens his eyes is Danny’s tired, worried face, and he mumbles apologies around the ice chips that trembling fingers carefully spoon into his dry mouth. He can see that Danny’s aphasia is in full force now, by the way his gaze wavers and he bites angrily at his lower lip, so he wordlessly holds out the arm not tethered to an IV and gathers Danny close, pressing reassuring kisses to his brow. Danny smells like tears and sweat and coffee.

“It’s okay, Danno, just a through and through,” he rasps as he soothes his partner, clumsily rubbing his back with one hand.

He presses a kiss to the rough palm that comes up to cup his bruised face, as Danny buries his hot face in his neck and huffs out a relieved breath, and Steve hums reassuringly into bright hair. He meets Chin’s smiling dark eyes over the curve of Danny’s shoulder and nods thanks at him for looking after his partner while Steve was in surgery to repair his wounded leg.

“It’s alright, baby, I’ll be up in no time.”

He whispers love and comfort in Danny’s ear and smiles when he feels Danny take another deep, shuddering breath of relief and relax, his hand curling around to cup the nape of Steve’s neck, thumb pressed against his pulse. Steve slides his hand up and tangles it in blond hair, gently scratching Danny’s scalp and massaging his neck. He smiles as he feels Danno’s tense muscles ease and his breath start to even out into an exhausted doze. Steve doesn’t doubt that Danny has not slept since he found out Steve was shot, and his meds are causing him to crash hard, but everything will be okay now.

Steve is awake and back on the job.

 ****

Kaihalulu

“Let me look at you. I want to see all of you. Let me,” Steve murmurs coaxingly into his new husband’s ear.

It’s not that Danno will ever admit that he has a shy streak, but he does, its well hidden behind all the bluster. It’s one of the reasons other than strict professionalism that keeps him in button downs and ties at work. That modesty drives Steve crazy, especially now that he knows what is hidden beneath all that primly buttoned cotton. One of these days Steve is going to track down the fool that made Danny ashamed of his own body and eviscerate him slowly then feed his corpse to the crabs.

They’re on Maui for their honeymoon, although Steve offered a trip to New Jersey instead. Danny refused with shadowed eyes. There are too many memories of Grace there and besides, his brother and sisters are not pleased with his marriage to Steve. His asshole brother Matt even made the mistake of trying to gain power of attorney over Danny (and control of his few assets) and get him transferred to an institution in New Jersey shortly before he was released from the hospital.

Matthew Williams quickly learned exactly what a pissed off Navy SEAL backed by the Governor of Hawaii and 5-0’s resources could do. Presented with the evidence of his money laundering schemes that Chin had easily dug up, he was suddenly too worried about escaping the FBI and covering his own ass to harass his older brother about his new lifestyle.

They are staying in a tiny, tidy vacation house near Hana Bay that belongs to Chin’s auntie Lena, and have hiked out to Kaihalulu beach. They lucked out and the beautiful pocket beach is deserted this morning and Steve is busily intent on seducing his new husband. They have spread a blanket on the red sand and Steve has already gleefully discarded his own clothing to Danny’s rolled eyes and muttered complaints about overgrown nudists.

Steve happily nuzzles and kisses and coaxes a nervous Danno out of his tee shirt, ignores his _‘for fuck’s sake we’re in broad daylight, McGarrett’_ and tugs insistently at the strings of Danno’s board shorts as he presses his lover gently back down on the blanket and covers him with his own body.

“All anyone coming over the ridge will see is my bare behind.”

Steve promises as he gives him his best puppy dog eyes and slides a hand inside Danny’s shorts and smiles at the quickly drawn breath in his ear as he licks and kisses the sweet spot at the curve of Danny’s jaw, working his way up to nip a tender earlobe and suck a mark behind it. Finally he distracts Danno with kisses enough to ease the shorts down and off, and he quickly tosses them over his shoulder to Danny’s yelp of dismay.

Now Steve can feast his eyes to his hearts content, and he does, happily gazing down at the beautifully proportioned body beside him. He loves the contrast between them. Danny’s golds and creams and rose pinks compared to his own darker tones. Steve runs his eyes and hands hungrily over the golden furred torso, lingering on the tiny pink buds of his nipples and the trail leading down the soft skin of his taut belly to rosy, generous flushed genitals nestled in golden brown curls.

He gently traces Danno’s tan line, runs an admiring thumb over the indigo ink of the wave tattoo curving against his hip bone and slides a hand reverently over the curve of Danny’s hip and down and squeezes, loving the feel of the strongly muscled, furry thigh beneath his hand.

When he lifts his eyes to gauge his husband’s reaction to his touch he finds wondering blue eyes locked on his face, with Danny lying quietly under his hands, his own nervous hands curled in loose fists between them.

Steve’s eye catches on the glint of the heavy gold ring on Danny’s left hand that matches his own, and he reaches down and lifts it reverently to his lips. He kisses the strong fingers, the calloused palm and mouths his way down the deep scar on Danny’s inner arm, never taking his eyes off his husband’s absorbed face. When Danny’s breath hitches and his lashes drop to hide his eyes and his lips part over a breathy sigh, Steve presses one last tiny kiss to his inner elbow and moves hungrily to take his mouth.

Steve kisses him and keeps kissing him until Danny’s sighs become soft moans of need and his lips are swollen and bruised and he clutches hungrily at Steve’s broad shoulders and they curl together and make tender love lazily there on the sand to the soft hiss and shush of the waves over the rocks and sand.

Afterwards, they nap nude with legs tangled on the blanket and Steve wakes to Danny curled into the curve of his body, golden skin warm in the sun and light glinting in his blond hair and tangled in his lashes, one hand curled snugly around Steve’s forearm and an ankle hooked firmly around his even in his sleep and Steve smiles broadly because he knows that Danny is the one stubborn enough to keep him.

The moment is shattered when the sound of approaching voices echo down from the trailhead and Danny’s eyes fly open. He stares wide-eyed at Steve for a moment, then scrambles up and runs, cursing, for the cover of the ocean, the nearest pair of shorts—Steve’s—clutched in one hand. Steve throws his head back and laughs joyfully as he follows, jogging at a more leisurely pace, eyes locked on the flex of muscle in the very fine pale ass in front of him.

 ****

Paperwork

Steve sits in his office, head in his hands. There are several stacks of paperwork in front of him. Steve has always hated paperwork. Slowly he raises his head and pulls the first one over and signs it. It’s the final form that will commit his partner to the best private hospital on Oahu for an indefinite time.

Danny has not improved since his attempted suicide. He has gotten worse, he won’t talk to anyone now, remaining mute and indifferent to anyone he comes in contact with. He refuses to acknowledge Steve when he visits and it kills Steve to see that vibrant face so blank, those bright eyes so dull as they stare listlessly off into some inner hell that only Danny can see. He needs help and this is the only way Steve can give it now. He forces himself to set it aside. He will drop it at the hospital administration office this afternoon when he visits Danny.

He pulls several completed forms from the nearest stack to add to it. These are the forms he and Chin falsified—the ones that give Steve power of attorney and the one indicating that Steve is Danny’s domestic partner. Wistfully, Steve trails a finger over Danny’s forged signature on the civil partnership form. He would give anything, he realizes, if it were true. If Danny was his to keep and to cherish for the rest of their lives and he wishes he had the courage to tell Danny how he felt before Grace’s death. It might have helped. Maybe if Danny knew and loved him back…it would have helped.

It’s the story of Steve’s life, to finally realize something too late to do anything to change it. Well, maybe he can work on that now.

The next paper is a commendation from the Navy and the offer for promotion to the rank of Captain for exemplary service—Steve’s work with 5-0 has not gone unnoticed by his commanding officers---completely skipping the rank of Commander. It would mark a real milestone in his career and mean a better pay grade as well as an upgrade in command. He could even command his own ship. He regards it dispassionately for a moment, before he sets it aside. It’s a shame he has to decline. He has something more important to focus on now than his career. Vaguely, he wonders what his father would have said about that.

The next form is his resignation from the Naval Reserves. As much as Steve loves his career and as hard as he has worked to earn his rank, he can’t risk being pulled into active duty while Danny is so fragile. He doesn’t dare risk it. He won’t leave his lost, bewildered, wounded partner to face a fucking institution alone. For the first time in his life Steve refuses to leave his pain behind. He is going to man up and be here for his partner and for when Danny is ready to come back home. He doesn’t care how long it’ll take for Danny to get well, Steve is going to be here waiting. He signs it and sets it aside to be couriered over to the base.

The last piece of paper is the report that Danny wrote up on the last case they finished and which he left on Steve’s desk to await his signature. Steve blinks hard as he stares down at the neatly printed report. It is also peppered with a swarm of colorful peel off Post-It notes full of bright red inked arrows and notations in Danny’s neat handwriting and bristling with exclamation marks like angry bees. Steve has always secretly enjoyed reading these comments and he actually keeps some of the funnier ones tucked away in his stationery drawer.

One points a fat arrow to the paragraphs describing the operation, _Wait for back-up, Steve!_ it proclaims. Two paragraphs down another blares, _I ruined a good shirt, it’s coming out of your pocket, Super SEAL!_ Then farther down _Why did you have a grenade in your pocket???_ A list of property damage and a bright red _Governor pissed!_ notation with the ‘pissed’ underlined twice and at least four exclamation marks to insure that Steve gets the point. And last of all at the end of the page a note with a scribbled frowny face and an exasperated; _Next time, wait for me, I’m your partner. Idiot._

Steve blinks hard and feels a painful smile tug at the corners of his mouth. Carefully, he peels the note off and places it on the corner of his computer monitor where he can see it. He smoothes it with his thumb to make sure it sticks.

 _You got It, Danno. I’ll wait as long as it takes._

 ****

Ties

They’ve got him tied down. He won’t stop fighting the restraints and screaming for Grace and begging to be released to go to her. Steve paces restlessly in the hall as he waits to be allowed back in the room to see his partner, running his hands through his hair. He reeks of smoke and gasoline and can’t seem to stop moving. Danny screamed at Steve, cursing him for not allowing him to reach Grace. Danny said he hates him. Steve’s hands are shaking.

Kono is weeping quietly in a chair, he should go comfort her, but he can’t. Chin is off being his usual efficient self, investigating the accident. Steve is pretty sure he, himself is in shock. Gracie is dead. Taken from them, lost in that horrible, fiery collision. Max has her now. Max is taking care of her in the mortuary. Gracie is gone. Danny’s reason for being here is gone. That scares Steve because Grace is—was-- Danno’s life, he said so himself. Grace was all Danny had.

Stan and Rachel have come and gone, Rachel collapsed with shock and grief in the hallway and Stan took her home. Danny has no real home here and no one to go home to. Danny won’t let Steve hold him. Steve jams his hands into his pockets and pulls out a gray silk tie. He stares at it blankly before remembering. They cut Danny’s torn, scorched clothes off in the emergency room. His pockets are full of Danny’s things, his wallet, keys, badge and Steve even has his gun tucked safely in the belt of his cargo pants. He can’t let Danny near a firearm. Danny is not rational right now.

The sudden silence startles him and he pushes his way past a nurse into Danny’s room, heart pounding. The doctor looks up, syringe in hand, and swabs the new puncture in Danny’s arm with an alcohol wipe before giving Steve a reassuring smile.

“He’ll be out for a while. He needs all the rest he can get.”

Steve licks his lips anxiously, and eyes Danny’s pale, too still face, as the golden lashes flutter, then still and he stops tugging at the padded restraints on his bandaged wrists. Danny never paused. He ran straight into the inferno and his hands and arms are blistered and burned from where he tried to claw open the hot metal of the smashed door of the car to reach his little girl. It took Steve and two others to drag him away and keep him from crawling back into the fire. Steve’s hands are scorched, because at one point Danny’s sleeves were on fire. Thank God that the fire department and EMTs had already been on the scene. Steve remembers sprinting across the pavement to grab Danny, he was almost been too late—too late to pull his partner out of the heart of the flames.

He sways on his feet at that thought. He can’t lose Danno too, because Danny is too important to Steve. The doctor is saying something, gently pushing Steve down in a chair, and urging him to put his head down and take deep breaths. The man gently uncurls Steve’s tense fists and frowns over Steve’s reddened, abraded palms and calls sharply for a nurse. Steve ignores him, eyes still on Danny.

He almost lost his partner today. He may lose him still. He needs to stay vigilant.

 ****

Fair

Steve knows he is babbling like an idiot but he can’t help it. He is so damned happy today that a volcano could erupt in downtown Waikiki and it wouldn’t faze him. Today he has permission to take Danno off the hospital grounds for the first time and at Kono’s suggestion has brought him to the crafts and music fair that is kicking off Aloha week downtown.

Danno is silent and looking a little wide-eyed at the crush of people and the noise and he sticks close to Steve, clutching a bottle of water to his chest in a death grip. Dr. Avery has begun the long, ongoing process of adjusting Danny’s medications and has informed Steve of the symptoms to look for if Danny starts to become overwhelmed. Steve has some anti-anxiety meds tucked in a pocket in case Danny needs them. Steve suspects that Danny wishes he still had Grace’s stuffed monkey to hold for comfort, so he steps closer, using the crush of the moving crowd as an excuse and drapes a long arm over Danny’s shoulders and casually tucks him into his side.

Steve is relieved when Danny makes no attempt to move away and instead merely presses closer. At Steve and Mao’s insistence he is dressed like an islander today in new khaki cargo shorts and bright tee shirt that Steve bought him and a pair of worn, comfortable sneakers. His uncut hair is pulled carelessly back into a short tail with an elastic band at the nape of his neck and Steve really likes how it makes him look younger and more relaxed.

He is still too pale and thin to Steve’s critical eye, but that will be quickly remedied with good food, exercise and healthy sunshine. If Steve has his way, these field trips will soon be a regular thing and if Danny responds as well as Steve knows he will, Steve will be able to check him out for home visits. Steve is really looking forward to that. Danny doesn’t know it yet, but Steve has quietly moved all his things over to his house after his apartment lease expired.

McGarrett has spent his long, lonely weekends at Home Depot and Target and worked hard to make his house more comfortable and welcoming for the day when Danny is finally released. Steve has remodeled the lower floor of the house, removing most of the old furniture and turned his old bedroom into what in his head he refers to as Danno’s room. He painted the walls a soft, cool shade of blue with cream trim and replaced the curtains and the bed with new ones. He has placed thick soft area rugs down on the wooden floor and carefully hung all of Danny’s clothes and ties in the closet.

He was appalled at how few things Danny actually owned. As a career Navy man, Steve is used to traveling light, but it pissed him off to discover that his partner possesses little more than his clothes and his car. Steve has also carefully boxed up Grace’s few clothes and toys that he found in the apartment and stored them in his garage. It makes Steve wonder just how badly Rachel made Danny suffer financially in the divorce, financial security appears to be her first priority. Well, it doesn’t matter now. Steve will take care of Danno’s things and he will soon have new, better belongings to add to them.

Danny has never spoken ill of Rachel to Steve, except to complain bitterly about her asshole of a lawyer, but McGarrett knows the signs of a vindictive bitch when he sees them. After all, he grew up with Mary Ann and there was a time in the not so distant past when she made it her priority that both he and his father suffer from her bewildered, passive aggressive rage. Steve will tolerate Danny’s ex-wife if necessary but he will never really like or trust a woman stupid enough to divorce Danny.

Steve peers thoughtfully around at the rows of crafts booths, then glances down at his partner’s pensive face as Danny eyes his surroundings warily, blinking owlishly in the bright sunlight. Steve brightens at the sight of a nearby hoops game booth. Maybe Danno will like a carved Tiki warrior figure as a prize. He steers his partner towards the booth stopping to purchase a couple of fragrant leis to drape around the blond’s neck on the way. The scowl he gets in return makes him beam. It won’t be long before Danno will be telling him exactly where he can put those flowers.  
Happily he tugs his partner towards the games.

“Come on Danno, I’m going to win you a prize!”

 ****

Cloudbursts

If its one thing Danny never gets used to in Hawaii, it’s the way these mini bursts of rain appear out of nowhere during the day, drench everything, then disappear in minutes and leave the sun beaming as though nothing happened. He wanders out onto the lanai, hands jammed in his pockets and peers towards the beach where Steve is just wading out of the water from his morning swim. Super SEAL, of course, pays no attention to the fact that he is getting rained on, he just takes it in stride and swipes his wet hair out of his face as he jogs towards the house.

Danny has only been living here for a few weeks, but it already feels more like home then his house in Jersey did. Except for the occasional nightmare he sleeps easily and deeply in the bed in the room across from Steve’s and shares chores with him and has even started to help him catch up with his paperwork. Steve is hopeless with paperwork and has handwriting that is worse than any doctor’s that Danny has ever seen.

So far, this _thing_ between them is so new, so fragile that neither is quite sure how to proceed. Steve cautiously puts his arm over Danny’s shoulders when they sit and watch TV in the evening and of course, they nap easily together. They’ve exchanged a few shy, almost chaste kisses. Danny has gotten into the habit of kissing Steve goodbye when he leaves for work in the mornings and hello when he returns. He really enjoys those. He has had some separation anxiety when Steve leaves for work---Steve has a dangerous job and Danny isn’t there to watch his back anymore, so he worries.

Steve wades out of the sea, pleasantly buzzed from his exercise routine. It’s Saturday and he is basically thinking about nothing important. He and Danno need to make a grocery run and remember to buy some laundry detergent while they are out. He realizes he is almost humming under his breath and laughs softly at himself. This waking up relaxed and happy is a new thing for him and he never ever thought he would fall into domesticity with another guy so easily. But its Danny and he and Danny mesh together. He feels his smile widen when he sees Danno waiting quietly for him on the lanai.

Danny still doesn’t talk. Dr. Avery has assured Steve that this will pass. Once Danny starts to regain his confidence and interact more his words will come back. Steve doesn’t mind, As much as he loved the loud boisterous Danno, he loves the quiet side of him as well. He is not used to having someone to come home to and he enjoys coming home to find Danny curled up barefoot on the couch, absorbed in some thick forensics text he has borrowed from Max or from the library. Steve thinks that they will have to buy some nice bookshelves to put in downstairs because Danny really likes to read and Steve wants him to have a place for his favorite titles. Among Danny’s few possessions were several boxes of worn, well read books.

Steve is really looking forward to the day he moves the tall stack of library books off the nightstand in Danno’s room to what Steve privately thinks of as their bedroom. He figures they can eventually turn Danno’s room into an office for him. Danny doesn’t know it yet, but Steve replaced his father’s old bed with a brand new one—one wide and comfortable with more than enough room for both he and Danny. Soon maybe, he will coax Danno into sleeping with him.

He thinks maybe he will install a new flat screen TV on the bedroom wall to tempt him. Danny likes to have the sports and Discovery channels on while he reads and they both enjoy movies. They can curl up in bed and read and watch bad movies together. Steve makes a mental note to add some nice DVD shelves to the bookcases they need to buy. He enjoys making a home with Danny and feels his smile become even wider and sappier.

He is almost up to the lanai and opens his mouth to happily greet his partner and suddenly stops short of the shelter, stops short and stands stupidly in the rain staring, because of the look on Danny’s face. Danny’s clear blue eyes are intent on Steve’s face, his mouth and suddenly as tightly focused as a bright blue laser… he has never seen that particular look on Danny’s face before when he looked at Steve, like he is _hungry._

Before he can say a word, Danny is stepping down off the porch and reaching up to pull his head down and that hungry, hot mouth is on his and suddenly they are locked together kissing like the world is about to end, and it’s so goddamned _good_.

They fit together even if Danny is six inches shorter, he fits in Steve’s arms and he holds Steve just as hard as Steve holds him and they can’t seem to stop kissing once they start. So they stand there in the downpour about a foot from the shelter of the overhang and kiss. Steve tangles his hands in Danny’s wet hair and devours his mouth, covers his face in kisses and it’s like they can’t stop. They’re both skin hungry and touch starved and it feels so fucking good to finally, finally hold each other tight and make this connection and learn each other in this intimate way.

Steve is hard but he ignores it because he knows Danny isn’t. He can’t be yet with the heavy duty meds still in his system, but Steve doesn’t care because right now this is all he needs in the world is this man in his arms and in the rest of his life. They kiss until their lips are bruised and swollen and the rain finally stops and the sun comes out and there is a perfect rainbow arching over the bay which they barely notice as they finally break apart, laugh and stumble into the house, dripping rainwater all over the kitchen floor, because all they can see is each other.

 ****

Waiting

Steve lifts a hand to Chin to let him know he is leaving and heads out the door, bagged lunch in his hand. Kono watches curiously before asking the obvious question.

“Where is the Boss headed?”

“Out to lunch.”

“But he brought his lunch today.”

She follows her cousin into the break room, watching as he pulls his own container of stir-fry out of the mini-fridge. Chin gives her one of the gentle, patient looks that always make her feel like a little kid as he sits down at the table.

“He goes over to the hospital and checks in on Danny.”

She blinks, puzzled.

“But isn’t visiting day Thursday?” She knows Steve never misses a visit although Danny refuses to acknowledge his existence.

Chin pokes at his lunch with his chopsticks.

“Steve likes to check up on him more often, make sure he doesn’t need anything.”

Kono leans back on the counter and ponders. Steve brown bags his lunch several times a week, so apparently he has been checking up on Danny at least three times a week plus his regular visits and she knows he talks to Mao for his daily ‘Danno report’. She shakes her head. She can’t remember seeing someone so devoted to a partner before. It’s both awe inspiring and little scary. She sighs and turns to the fridge to dig out her own sandwich.

Steve pulls his truck into the parking lot and hops out, still chewing the last bite of the sandwich he has devoured on the way over. He nods politely at one of the passing off shift nurses and reaches in the back for the box of cocoa puffs he has brought. He drops it at the foyer desk in Danny’s building and raises an inquiring brow at the aide seated behind it. The pleasantly plump older woman gives him her usual soft smile and waves him towards the lanai.

“Mao should be bringing him back from his walk, Steve. He’s had a fairly good day, quiet as usual, but active.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Kim.”

He slips out into the shade of the lanai and hovers by one of the big posts and peers out over the grounds. He won’t try to get closer, and he won’t stay long, he just needs to see that Danny is okay. Mao lumbers into view on the path headed towards the cafeteria, and Steve’s heart clenches at the sight of the downcast figure shuffling silently behind him. The tangled blond head is drooping and Danny clutches Gracie’s toy monkey tightly under his arm. He seldom puts it down. He is dressed today in a pale blue tee shirt over overlong lounge pants that drag over his bare heels as he shuffles silently along in soft slippers. It’s been over six months since he was admitted for care and he still doesn’t speak.

Steve realizes he is clenching his fists so hard his knuckles are white and forces himself to take a deep breath and stand down. There is nothing he can do now except wait. Mao sees him and gives him a nod, and Steve returns it and watches as the big man carefully shepherds his charge into the building for lunch. Danny is in good hands with Mao. He waits until they are out of sight before he turns and leaves, giving Mrs. Kim a soft word of thanks as he heads back to work.

One of the younger nurses gives him a bright, flirty smile and tosses her long black ponytail back as he passes, but he barely notices. She pauses and hovers at the service desk, still eyeing the broad shoulders and fine backside with appreciation.

“Who is that dreamboat, Joy?”

Joy Kim eyes her severely over her reading glasses as she makes notes in a patient’s file.

“You can put that thought right out of your head, Katie. That young man is Danny’s husband.”

Katie’s jaw drops. “Are you serious? That hot guy and _Danny_ are together?”

Joy’s eyes narrow and her tone is considerably frostier when she answers. She likes Danny and Steve a lot. They are both sweet boys and she hopes that Danny recovers soon so that he can go home.

“You have a problem with that?”

Katie’s eyes widen. “No! Of course not! I’m just surprised is all. Danny is just…so quiet.” She quickly excuses herself and returns to her rounds.

Joy Kim gives a wistful sigh of her own as she turns to the file cabinet. She wishes her husband was half as devoted to her as Steve McGarrett is to  
his.

 ****

Married

Steve is grinning like a loon as he maneuvers through the narrow bedroom door because Danny is giggling like a kid from his position in the fireman’s carry over Steve’s shoulders. Who knew that Danno could be so easily taken down and rendered helpless with laughter from tickling?

“Steve put me down! I am not the blushing bride in this relationship!”

This declaration would be a lot more believable if Danny wasn’t flushed pink and breathless.

Steve tosses him on the wide bed and flops happily down beside him, a bit breathless himself. His Jersey boy ‘bride’ is no lightweight, but well-built, and sturdily muscled, and Steve has seen him easily take down perps twice his size without breaking a sweat. They lie there snickering together like children because they’re both half wasted. Steve suspects that Kono spiked the wedding punch, because even the Governor was tipsy when they finally left the small wedding party at Steve’s house.

Neither of them really planned on taking a real honeymoon yet, so it had been a real surprise when Chin handed them the keys to his Auntie Lena’s Maui cottage and Kamekona stuffed them in the back of his humvee and driven them to the heli-pad. Yet another cousin flew them over and handed them a large gift basket of ‘supplies’ that had Danno blushing beet red despite his vehement protests that he was not embarrassed. Now they have two whole weeks to themselves to do what honeymooners do best---screw each other senseless.

Happily, Steve rolls over and climbs astride his husband and busily begins to divest him of his clothing. The first thing to go is that ubiquitous bane of Steve’s existence, the tie. He unknots it carefully and pulls it slowly from under Danny’s collar while Danny smirks fondly up at him, then flings it vengefully into the corner. If Steve has his way, Danny will not find it again to take home. Steve gets a bit distracted by his new husband’s warm mouth and spends some time kissing him before he remembers Mission Get Danno Naked.

The tiny buttons on Danny’s crisp white tuxedo shirt nearly defeat him until he simply snarls and yanks, ripping it open despite Danny’s laughing protests and calling him a Neanderthal. The golden expanse of chest is another distraction and Steve pauses to give tiny nipples the attention they deserve, nipping and suckling gently until Danny is gasping and squirming under him and muttering _off, off, off, I thought you liked taking your clothes off,_ as he tugs haphazardly at Steve’s clothes.

They twist and squirm and untangle themselves out of the rest of their clothes and finally succeed in twining their naked bodies together. Steve is very pleased with himself as he settles over Danny and happily nuzzles into the strong curve of Danny’s throat and leisurely starts to suck a love bite there. Danny protests half-heartedly, but Steve notices that his hands keep tugging Steve closer and tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck to keep him right where he is.

It feels so good to lie together like this. Steve loves the feel of Danny’s solid body against his, the warmth and the contrast of textures—silky skin and blond body hair over strong muscle. He hums approvingly as keeps working on that love bite, one hand sliding down to give the lush peach fuzzed curve of Danno’s ass a proprietary squeeze. That ass is _his_ tonight and from now on. No one else gets to see Danny like this, all flushed and breathless under him, he’s beautiful and he belongs to Steve.

Steve has resolved to be a good husband so he takes his time loving his man, he explores and mouths kisses over every inch of Danny’s body, whispers love into his ear and when he finally gets him open and ready and slides his hands under Danny’s thighs to urge him to wrap his sturdy legs around Steve’s waist, all Danny can do is cling hungrily to him and blindly obey. Every time they come together like this, it’s like the first time all over again.

Steve moves over him like the tide against the shore, smooth and relentless until Danny breaks against him with a high, keening cry as Steve takes him over the edge and joins him there, coming together in salt, musk and wet heat and collapsing entangled on the sweat soaked sheets. They fall asleep like that, face to face with Danny curled in Steve’s arms, their legs tangled together and Steve’s face tucked against Danny’s neck.

 ****

Scars

Steve takes off from work early this afternoon because he wants to get home to Danny. Yesterday was a crap day for his partner. Somehow a new pharmacist at their regular drug store mixed up one of Danny’s new drug scripts and as a result the combination made Danny disorientated, confused and ill. He spent most of the day curled up on the couch, mute and miserable. The drug-induced nausea caused him to throw up and he was unable to keep anything down for hours. He insisted that he felt better today and sent Steve off to work, but McGarrett has a hunch that his partner is not feeling as well as he claims.

After a brief stop at the pharmacy and a word with the head pharmacist, he stops at Whole Foods and buys some rich chicken soup from the deli and some fresh bread and Saltine crackers. Danny should be able to keep food down today.

He unlocks the front door and pushes it open, juggling his bags, then nearly drops them in the floor. He has the presence of mind to set them on the hall table before hurrying over to where Danny is sprawled on the floor beside the couch.

“Danny!”

Steve has a moment of sheer, heart stopping terror before he realizes that Danny is struggling weakly to sit up. He quickly kneels beside his partner and helps him sit up and lean against Steve’s shoulder. Danny blinks mutely at him in confusion and Steve realizes that he has thrown up on himself and that his sturdy body is racked with tremors. Carefully, Steve checks him for concussion, afraid that he hit his head when he fell, but other than the distress and disorientation he appears okay.

“Easy, baby, let me help you.”

Steve eases arm around Danny and helps him up onto the couch. He leaves him there long enough to fetch a warm damp washcloth and a towel from the bathroom, then carefully removes Danny’s stained tee shirt and gently washes his face and dries it. He leaves him again and quickly returns with a clean tee and a glass of water so he can rinse his mouth. Danny isn’t much help, he stares at Steve and his surroundings with confusion and a touch of fear that causes something inside Steve to twist hard.

Danny is still shaking and his skin is cold. Steve thinks hard for a second before coming to a decision. He grabs the afghan off the back of the couch, then stoops and gently picks his partner up. Staggering a little, he carries him out the back door to the big woven hammock in the back yard. It’s warm and sunny out here and the air is fresh, and Steve tucks Danny carefully in it before climbing in himself and pulling the smaller man close. Danny is tense against him for a few minutes, then he gives a deep sigh and relaxes in the curve of Steve’s body, pillowing his head on Steve’s shoulder. His eyes close, but he curls a hand in Steve’s shirt and hangs on, anchoring himself and gradually relaxing as he warms up in the sun.

After a hushed call to Dr. Avery to insure that he doesn’t need to take Danny to the hospital, Steve settles down himself, wraps both arms around his partner and rocks the hammock gently while Danny dozes. Steve presses a kiss against sweat damp hair and holds him. There isn’t much he can do until the foreign drug is flushed from Danny’s system and he doesn’t dare give him anything else. After Danny wakes, Steve will take him back inside and see if he can coax some soup and crackers into him before tucking him in bed. Until then, all Steve can do is hold on.

 

 ****

FINI  
April 26, 2011


End file.
